Our fat-free, dolphin-safe Milwaukee events calendar is chock-full of things to do, but only a handful of events are worthy of the lofty honor of “Record Recommended” (patent pending). Here are our recommendations for April 22-28, 2019.
MONDAY, APRIL 22
David Dondero + Shoot Down The Moon, Ian Olvera @ Cactus Club
David Dondero is the kind of artist who gets tagged as one of the “best living songwriters” by NPR’s All Songs Considered in 2006, and then proceeds to live up to it. Not that he appeared out of nowhere: Dondero drummed for This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb in the mid/late-’90s, and he released his first solo album, The Pity Party, in 1999. Since then, he’s been responsible for a number of well-loved albums, including 2017’s Inside the Cats Eye. Catch him at this intimate Cactus Club show along with top-shelf locals openers Shoot Down The Moon and Ian Olvera.
TUESDAY, APRIL 23
Tuesday Tunes: Chrissy Dzioba Clobes (WhiskeyBelles) @ Kindred On K.K.
Back by popular demand, our Tuesday evening music series at Kindred On K.K. returns for two more installments. First up: an encore performance by Chrissy Dzioba Clobes of the forever-great WhiskeyBelles. As always, Kindred’s kitchen and bar will offer their full menu, and their Tuesday night happy hour (including $2 oysters and $5 old fashioneds) will last all night. Oh, and the show is free. See you there!
Valerie June + Parker Gispert @ Pabst Theater
Tennessee’s own Valerie June expertly straddles the boundaries of folk, Americana, bluegrass, gospel, soul, and country. No matter what type of music you think she plays, we can all agree it’s nothing short of astounding. About two years removed from the release of her wonderful The Order Of Time, June will take to The Pabst to head up a show that also features Parker Gispert. Not long ago, Valerie June was playing Club Garibaldi, so catch this rising star at Pabst Theater while you still can.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24
Milwaukee Record Presents: The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) @ Avalon Theater
Here’s the story: The weirdly brilliant Brady Bunch Movie imagines what would happen if the titular ’70s sitcom family was living in the then-present day of 1995. The Bradys are still the same—all bellbottoms, platform shoes, and astroturf backyards—but the ’90s are all grunge, carjackings, and RuPaul working as a high school guidance counselor. Does fish-out-of-water comedy ensue? You bet your pork chops and applesauce it does. Get your tickets ($5!) HERE.
Eels + Inspector Cluzo @ Turner Hall Ballroom
FRIDAY, APRIL 26
Billy Joel @ Miller Park
STOP LIGHTING THE AUDIENCE! STOP IT! LET ME DO MY SHOW FOR CHRIST’S SAKE!
Astral Hand (debut show) + Tarek Sabbar, Shogun @ Company Brewing
Type “Milwaukee psych-stoner-biker-band” into the search engine of your choice and you’ll land on Calliope. Beginning with a bluesy self-titled album in 2013 and culminating with the thunderous Chapel Perilous in 2018, Calliope has both embraced its influences and evolved over time. Now, the band is going through its most dramatic evolution yet, setting aside the Calliope name and rebranding itself as Astral Hand. Based on Astral Hand’s first over-the-top single, “Universe Machine,” the band fully embraces Chapel Perilous‘ outsized grandeur and mixes it with a retro-cool sci-fi vibe straight out of Logan’s Run.
Late Night With Mondo Lucha @ The Cooperage
No, it’s not a new late-night talk show (though it totally should be)—it’s Mondo Lucha’s very first pop-up wrestling event. Neat! Superstars of the long-running, terrifically popular, and homegrown Lucha Libra company—including Darin Corbin, Red Goldstein, AirWolf, Isaias Velazquez, The Russian Beast, GPA, and Laynie Luck—will perform for an intimate crowd of 200.
Whiskey Of The Damned: Acoustic Recording @ Walker’s Point Music Hall
SATURDAY, APRIL 27
Lex Allen (EP release) + Immortal Girlfriend, DJ DRiPSweat @ The Cooperage
If there was a more crowd-pleasing, swinging-for-the-fences 2018 Milwaukee album than Lex Allen’s Table 7: Sinners & Saints, we’d love to hear it. Allen’s long-awaited full-length debut is pure pop perfection: “Never Look Back” scores big with an anthemic chorus that should be blasting from every car window in the city. “Struck Gold” takes to the dance floor with a dirty beat and lines like “Coulda bought a yacht, but I bought a watch.” The bat-shit “Bitch U Fabulous,” meanwhile, channels U-know-who. Then there are the ballads (“Mama’s Boy,” “Release,” “7th Hour”), which prove Allen is one the most shockingly talented multi-threats working the game today. Tonight, Allen celebrates the release of a new EP, I.D.E.N.T.I.T.Y.
OK Go: The Live Video Tour @ Pabst Theater
Forget for a moment OK Go, makers of elaborate and wacky videos that clog up your Facebook feed every six months or so. Instead, focus on…well, let’s be honest, OK Go is only really known for their videos. And that’s fine! Accordingly, this show is part of the band’s Live Video Tour, which features…well, we’ll let them explain: “As you might expect from the pioneering band who danced on treadmills and in zero gravity, this show is unlike any you’ve seen before: it’s a film screening and a rock concert rolled into one. The band will perform their songs live and in sync with 20 of their iconic videos, pausing for question/answer sessions with the crowd and special performances. See them perform on handbells, and join in the high-tech interactive piece performed by the audience.”
Tight Fright + Saebra & Carlyle, Guerrilla Ghost, Rexxx @ Cactus Club
WWE Presents NXT Live @ Turner Hall Ballroom
Faux Fiction + Beat The Smart Kids, Braver Days, Devil’s Teeth @ X-Ray Arcade
Spud Bucket + Beach Static @ Riverwest Public House
SUNDAY, APRIL 28
Foals + Preoccupations, Omni @ The Rave
Fresh off the release of the 15-year-old British band’s latest, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 1, Foals returns to The Rave to play material from that stunning effort and other albums in their extensive and altogether wonderful catalog. As if that elegant blend of electronically accented indie rock isn’t enough, Foals will be joined by Preoccupations and Omni.
Cairns + Hello Death @ The Jazz Estate
If you don’t get out to The Jazz Estate as often as you should, get out for this show. Seriously. See you there.